Burger time

I was recently invited to go on a local burger tour with the past Tournament of Pizza judges from All Over Albany. How can you say no to that?

For the past few years, I have tried to only eat our own beef. For the most part, I've been pretty good. When you get a side of beef, you end up with a lot of ground beef. I'd guess about 100 to 120 pounds of it depending on the year. That's a lot of meatloaf, tacos. nachos....and burgers. I've got to tell you, our beef makes a kick ass burger. I think a Prinzo's hard roll puts it over the top, but that's a minority opinion in the house. If you are looking for a cheap, white bun I'd recommend visiting a Stewart's.

Here's a summary of my thoughts on the four burger joints we visited one fun Saturday. The complete All Over Albany write up of the burger tasting is here and this is a link to the fries and kind of a wrap up.

BurgerFi
Bun: I'd never seen a bun branded before. The only think I can think of that compares is a toaster Darth Vader toaster that burns "Star Wars" into the slice. This was a toasted potato bun and had a little sweetness to it.
Meat: The burger was well done, not much beefy flavor to it but it had a nice amount of fat to it.
Toppings: Plenty of nicely melted cheese, there was also a French's style mustard taste that I'd skip if I were ordering for myself and the lettuce and tomato were there but nothing special.
Fry Texture: Nice and crispy on the outside and very soft inside. Kind of like a mashed potato.
Fry Flavor: I really liked these fries. I think I'd try to order them well done to compare.

So while this particular burger wasn't spectacular, it made me think that if I came and ordered a burger specifying my personal burger preferences, I could get a pretty good burger here. And the fries would be hard to stop eating.

Burger 21
Bun: I liked the bun. It was lightly toasted, but the  burger removed any toasted texture.
Meat: Well done but still juicy, fatty and very rich. I did a double take on my first bite. There is no mistaking this for lean.
Toppings: There was lettuce and a very good slice of tomato. There was also a lot of yellow mustard, ketchup and mayo that combine into a special sauce. Too much sauce that also took away from the bun.
Fry Texture: These are a McDonalds style fry with not much too them. They're just salt delivery device.
Fry Flavor: I thought they had a little bit of an off after taste.

I get that fat is flavor in a burger. That said, I thought the burger was too fatty and McDonald's does a better version of these fries.

Smashburger
Bun: Toasted, but very soft and didn't hold up
Meat: Good flavor but I didn't notice the crust they they are known for having.
Toppings: Lettuce, decent tomato, good pickle chips, ketchup, mustard and some incredibly strong red onion. With the onion on the burger, that was all you were going to taste. I like onion, but I took it off.
Fry Texture: Thin and very crispy, but a little greasy
Fry Flavor: not much there

I had heard good things about Smashburger. Maybe this was an off day. I liked the beef, but the overall burger was unimpressive. The fries were nothing special.

Five Guys
Bun: light toasting, good flavor, and I liked the sesame seeds. Only bun of the day with seeds.
Meat: Not much crust, but good flavor and juicy
Toppings:A lot of mayo (too much), best lettuce of the day, a decent tomato, ketchup, mustard and some very strong diced onion. Maybe I don't like raw onion as much as I thought.
Fry Texture: crispy but soft on the inside
Fry Flavor: Salt. There was a lot of salt on this batch of fries.

This was the only shop I had visited prior to this tour. I wasn't impressed at that visit and never understood why people liked Five Guys. I can definitely see the appeal of that burger now.

Out of these shops, where would I go back for a burger? BurgerFi would top the list for me. I liked the restaurant and I'd like to see how they build a burger to order instead of right off the menu. And eat more of their fries. Too bad you can't make a Franken-Burger and fries combo with the best aspects of each place.

When the tour was over, I popped into to Whole Foods for a few things - basil and mushrooms for pizza on Sunday plus a bottle of seltzer - then headed home. Once there, I proceeded to fall into a minor salt induced food coma that probably involved some loud snores. When I came to, we had been invited out to diner by another family. After a day of eating burgers, I drove the family to Red Robin.

I just had a small salad. Timing is everything.

Ice Cream Tour

Hard to believe, but this is the first FussyLittleBlog tour that I have been able to attend. I've come close a few times. It seems like there was always something in the way. Luckily, my first tour was one not only the whole family could enjoy, but also really wanted to go on as well: a tour of 5 soft serve ice cream stands.

Here's the idea: you get the same thing at all 5 places, you fill out a score sheet scoring a few variables and jot down any comments you have on the back. I thought we were going to have a family score sheet, but Daniel gave one to everybody. Though the girls hid their excitement pretty well, they were kind of thrilled to have their own score cards. Weights were also taken to so that a "value" category could also be judged. This is what we ordered:

Jon: kiddie cup of vanilla
Amy: kiddie cone of chocolate/vanilla twist with rainbow sprinkles
Allison: kiddie cone of vanilla with rainbow sprinkles
Casey: kiddie cup of vanilla with rainbow sprinkles

I wasn't a very good photojournalist during this tour. My picture taking was spotty at best.

We started off in Clifton Park and DeVoe's on Route 9..

Jon: Texture was a little fake, light and airy, kind of like a creamier Cool Whip, light aftertaste - but I could still taste it at the next stop.
Amy: Chocolate overpowered the vanilla, bottom of the cone was crunchy, had an aftertaste, mostly from the vanilla
Allison: bottom of the cone was crunchy, tasted weird after, large for a kiddie, good amount of sprinkles.
Casey: Hole in the middle, large, good amount of sprinkles, creamy.


You can kind of see what I mean about the extra air. Non of the other stands served something with this shape.

And here's that hole Casey mentioned. That was also something we didn't encounter for the rest of the tour.

Next stop, JJ's in Ballston Spa

This is pretty much what I think of when I think Drive-In. I took a picture of JJ's as we drove away, didn't bother to take a picture while we were there. Here are the comments:

Jon: It was creamy, not airy. Not much vanilla flavor. Much better.
Amy:Creamy and smooth, nice texture, vanilla not as strong flavor, chocolate very good, no bad aftertaste
Allison: Not that much sprinkles, aftertaste better, more kiddie sized
Casey: creamy. good amount of sprinkles, good size

I was stunned at the difference between the first two stops. The differences over the next three stops weren't as big. After two stops under our belts, we did what seems to come natural when being led by Daniel - stop for some food. The tour took a pit stop to Kelly's Mini Hot Dogs. I've heard of it but never visited. We each got a mini dog. If we weren't on a tour, I think I would have gone for something off their griddle. The dogs were good, and in the spirit of the tour, Casey expanded her score sheet to rate her plain mini hot dog.

Dog: 5
Toppings: None
Bun: 4
Value: 5
Overall: 5
Price: $1.00

And her comments:
Hot dog place - great tasting cheese, good tasting bun, nice tasting hot dog. Fast service.

I should ask what caught her attention with the bun and why she dinged it a point.

From Kelly's, we set off for Humpty Dumpty in Saratoga.

Humpty Dumpty had the biggest lines we encountered on the tour. Not Sure if it was location, timing or popularity, but they were running at least a 5 minute wait the whole time we were there.

Jon:  Very similar to JJ's, better vanilla flavor, seemed pricy, small size may have helped with the tour
Amy: Creamy and smooth, strong vanilla flavor, good chocolate flavor, sprinkles OK, no bad aftertaste
Allison: good amount of sprinkles
Casey: creamy, good size, good amount of sprinkles

The kids were really into the tour and took the judging pretty seriously. 

And one thing I've noticed from the kids' comments - don't skimp on the sprinkles. They'll notice.

Off to the other side of Saratoga and the Dairy Haus.

This stand had a lot of hard ice cream flavors I wanted to try, but it was a day of soft serve. Here's what we thought:

Jon: Really dense and creamy, you have to pull the spoon out, vanilla was a little weak, if I hadn't eaten 3 servings, this is what I think of when I think soft serve.
Amy: great texture, dense, creamy, smooth. best yet.
Allison: Good amount of sprinkles, large for kid's size
Casey:creamy, great tasting sprinkles, good amount of sprinkles, large size

From the Dairy Haus we set off to the final stop on the tour, The Farmer's Daughter. It's a nice roadside kind of joint.

They've even got a cow head on the side of the wall. As we left, a woman was taking a picture of the cow head as her husband pretended not to know her. I told her not to feel bad, I had already taken the same picture.

Jon: this seems pretty similar to Dairy Haus, my cup was cracked
Amy: no additional comments, just scores
Allison:Texture was good, toppings were alright, so was vanilla
Casey: Dense texture, good amount of sprinkles, good tasting sprinkles, good size.

I'll leave the number crunching to Daniel, but here's what we put down as answers to "Which was your favorite, and why?"

Jon: I'd rate Dairy Haus and Farmer's Daughter the same, but the edge goes to Dairy Haus for value
Amy: Dairy Haus - best flavors with the best consistency and texture, good heft and density
Allison: Dairy Haus because texture and toppings were good
Casey: My favorite was Dairy Haus because the texture was very creamy and the sprinkles were great tasting.

The family basically cast one big vote. I hope we didn't throw off the tour's statistical relevance. This was quite a tour. I learned a lot about soft serve. Mainly, that I don't really like that soft serve vanilla cone I've been getting for years and years. It's ok, and some are definitely better than others, but even when it's good, it's not great. Steve pretty much summed it up in his write up of the tour: the experience is better than the soft serve. The hot summer evening, after a softball game, a special stop on the ride home...the experience. I think I'll be taking a break from vanilla soft serve cones for either hard ice cream or at least a soft serve flavor. After the ice cream tour, a bunch of us headed off to 9 Miles East Farm for a pizza dinner. That will have to be a post on its own (Casey made a scorecard for the pizza too). 

After a parental award winning day of feeding our children nothing but ice cream and pizza with a break for a mini hot dog, we headed off to my in-laws for the night. On the way to their house, we made a stop at a long time favorite ice cream stand. Dairy Frost in Perth. After a day of just ok vanilla, would the old standby hold up? There would never be a better day to judge.

We got two kiddie sizes (they are called baby size at Dairy Frost) to share, one vanilla and one raspberry twist. Each cost $1.70. I didn't have a scale, but I know these were the biggest portions of the day. Even though it seemed a little better through rose colored glasses, the vanilla was probably the same as Dairy Haus and Farmer's Daughter. The raspberry twist was great. Our Dairy Haus voting bloc agreed, the best of  the day was Dairy Frost. If you ever find yourself where Route 30 hits Rt 29 north of Amsterdam, stop and pick up a cone.

Many thanks to Daniel. We really enjoyed our first tour.

Local Bourbon

Last month, I got an email informing me that my bottle of Albany Distilling Company's Ironweed Bourbon Whiskey was ready for me to pick up. So I headed down to the distillery (pretty much next door to the CH Evan's Pump House) to pick up my bottle. For $45, you get a bottle of the bourbon along with a nice sipping glass.

I enjoyed the bourbon. My favorite part was tasting how the Coal Yard New Make Whiskey (basically this bourbon prior to aging) evolved in a barrel for three months. While the bourbon was enjoyable I'd be interested in seeing if 6 months of aging made it better. However, at this price point I feel like I can find better bourbon. I haven't priced it recently, but a bottle of Basil Hayden was going for about $35 the last time I looked at Empire. While I don't think Ironweed is as good as Basil Hayden (they are very different too so this might not be the best comparison), I have faith that Albany Distillers will keep improving their products. So much faith, I have reserved a bottle of their Ironweed Rye that will be bottled in the next few weeks.

I should also mention that when I drink bourbon or Scotch, I usually just drink the bourbon or Scotch. Not a cocktail, rarely ice, once in awhile a splash of water. Just pour the whiskey in a glass and sip. That said, this bourbon may excel in a number of cocktails. I don't know. I just drank it straight. All of it.

If you see some Albany Distilling Company's products in the bars around town, give them a try. I tried their Quackenbush Still House Rum in a watermelon drink at the All over Albany birthday party. It was very good.

Good Cheap Wine

I probably shouldn't be posting this until after I visit the liquor store, but I'll take my chances. Over the weekend there was some wine with dinner at my parents house. It was the Mirassou 2010 Pinot Noir.

I took this picture from the Empire Wine site. This was the best under $10 wine I have had in awhile. Empire's online price is listed at $7.95. You really can't go wrong with it for 8 bucks. If you pick up a bottle, be sure to leave one for me too.

A Tasting

I thought a nice idea for a series of posts would be commenting on the occasional bottle of bourbon or Scotch I purchase. While I have several "go-to" favorites, I do like trying new things. Unfortunately, there is a risk of hating something new. And that would be a real shame because trying something new can cost $40. My best example of this happened when my wife and I were in Napa. After taking the tour of the Mondavi vineyards there is a tasting. The tasting starts with bottle that retail in the $12 to $15 range and ends with a bottle with a suggested price tag of $125. I thought the $125 dollar bottle sucked. The only thing that would be worse than buying that bottle of wine and being pissed about wasting $125 would be buying that bottle of wine in a restaurant for $250.

Back to the current tasting. One of my favorite liquor stores in Albany is Empire Wines.They have a nice selection of wines as well as a very nice shelf of bourbon I have been working my way across. On a recent trip, there were several new arrivals including the bottle I bought. The brand name is Hirsch and there were three Hirsch offerings in three different price ranges. Two of the price ranges were out of my league for a fifth of anything until after I win the lottery. The third level was just under $30. Here's a shot of the bottle:

Enough blabbing, let's have a taste......It's just so-so. Lot of caramel in the aroma but the bourbon is pretty harsh. Drinkable, but nothing special. No age on the bottle, but it is clearly young. Placing two bottles priced well over $100 next to a $30 bottle with the same name is a good marketing move. But I don't think I'll be buying this one again.